“I represented Tybalt in straight red lines”: developing a multimodal approach for teaching Shakespeare to lower secondary age pupils

Abstract

This qualitative Action Research study explores a group of lower secondary pupils’ use of social semiotic resources and traditional and digital tools to develop an understanding of Romeo and Juliet at a private trilingual school in Barcelona. Forming part of a wider study undertaken by an English language and literature teacher, it documents how learners engage in visual, linguistic, manual, and digital responses to the play. The results show the increased enjoyment and the agency of learners when a range of modes are introduced to facilitate a Shakespeare study. It demonstrates how integrating multimodality can encourage pupils to draw on their backgrounds and cultural experiences to access classic texts. Furthermore, it reveals how a multimodal approach can be part of a student-centred pedagogy and facilitate assessment methods that are alternative to traditional written assignments. Integrating multimodal composition processes gives learners opportunities to create texts for a specific audience, to think critically about the reading, make personal connections with the classical play, and increase their knowledge of English literature.